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Why Should You Pay To Learn A Language With An App?

Want the best value for your language education? You get out what you put in, and that goes for the time AND the money you invest. A paid app subscription beats free apps and traditional classroom methods in multiple ways.

Few bargain hunters can resist the lure of the word “free.” The temptation is especially strong in the App Store and Google Play Store, where there are dozens, if not hundreds, of free alternatives for every app with a price tag. But a word of warning: even when you don’t pay with money, you can still end up paying in other ways — like putting up with poor quality and unreliable service, having your private data sold, or getting bombarded with ads (to say nothing of micro-transactions that infect many “free” apps).

So when is it worth paying for an app? When you need it to help you accomplish something BIG. No, I don’t mean making GIFs or adding cool filters to your photos, I’m talking about learning a language. Many free apps offer this service, but can’t deliver results. That’s where Babbel comes in, offering premium quality content, accountability and value for a low subscription fee. So what makes it superior to the freemium pretenders?

1. An app built by language experts

Our learning content is not user-generated or spat out by an algorithm. It’s expertly crafted by over 100 linguists and programmers working together at Babbel’s Berlin headquarters. That’s almost 2000 years of educational experience under one roof!

With that level of knowledge, we can customize every learner’s journey instead of just translating the same course into multiple languages. For example: An English speaker learning Spanish will need a different learning path than an Italian learning Spanish. Our linguists and engineers take these different needs into account when building lessons based on real-life situations. From seven display languages, you can learn 14 languages, which means 98 individually-tailored language combinations! That is a level of dedication, detail and craftsmanship that you just won’t find in a free app.

2. We protect your privacy

Many free online services like Facebook and Google make their money by selling their users’ data to third parties. As the blogger Andrew Lewis famously put it, “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.” Don’t worry, we’re not like those other guys. Our relationship with you is direct, transparent and simple. Thanks to our paid subscription model, we can invest in making our product better and better (and keep the lights on at Babbel HQ) without pestering you with ads in the product or selling off your personal data.

3. We offer the best value

There’s no point comparing Babbel’s price with free apps, but compared to traditional learning methods like private tutors or classes, which can cost you hundreds per month, a Babbel subscription is a steal.

If you pay annually, it only costs 4.95 € per month. That’s the same price as a fancy coffee.

Even if your budget is tight, doing a 15-minute Babbel lesson every day comes out to only 0.16 € per day. Do more than one lesson daily, and the value is even better!

If you do have the cash to spend on a tutor or a class, Babbel is a great supplement to keep you engaged with your learning language in your private time.

So if you want the most out of your language education, you can see that you get out what you put in, and that goes for the time and the money you invest. And for the best value, a paid app subscription is the perfect way to start.

We are a team of 500 people from 53 nations with a shared passion for languages. From our offices in Berlin and New York, we help people discover the joys of self-directed learning. We currently offer 14 different learning languages — from Spanish to Indonesian — and our mobile apps see up to 120,000 downloads each day.

We are a team of 500 people from 53 nations with a shared passion for languages. From our offices in Berlin and New York, we help people discover the joys of self-directed learning. We currently offer 14 different learning languages — from Spanish to Indonesian — and our mobile apps see up to 120,000 downloads each day.